Pearce recall supporters attack stealth candidate

Backers of the effort to recall state Sen. Russell Pearce went public this week with accusations that one of the possible candidates is a Pearce ally who is trying to dilute the anti-Pearce vote.

Olivia Cortes, who filed as a Republican candidate in the scheduled Nov. 8 election, has not responded to media queries about her platform, her reasons for running or what she would do if elected to the Senate.

In contrast, Jerry Lewis, a Republican charter-school executive, has made several public appearances and launched a Facebook page in his effort to unseat Pearce. Michael Kielsky, a Libertarian attorney, likewise has spoken with the media about his candidacy.

Lewis already has filed his nominating petitions; others have until Sept. 9 to file 621 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

Randy Parraz, a leader of the group that organized the recall campaign, said there's a reason for Cortes' reticence.

"We know for a fact that this person Olivia Cortes was a supporter of Russell Pearce beforehand and would not sign the recall petition," Parraz said in a news conference at the Mesa headquarters of Citizens for a Better Arizona.

He said people who have called Cortes and offered to volunteer in her campaign have been told their help is not needed. It appears, he said, that Pearce allies "drafted a candidate that they know is not even running a campaign, just to draw votes away from another candidate to help (Pearce) get re-elected."

Pearce did not respond to requests for comment.

Cortes e-mailed a statement that said: "I have never met Mr Parraz and he has never met me, but I would appreciate it if he would stop trying to muscle or scare me out of this race. I live in LD18 and believe I have something to offer the voters. Mr. Parraz does not live in our district and he should stop interfering with our elections."

Parraz said Cortes' purported candidacy is part of a pattern of unsavory behavior by Pearce's supporters, including a phony Twitter account that targeted Lewis and anti-recall campaign signs that were illegally posted across the Southeast Valley this month.

Mesa ordered the signs removed this week. They can be reinstalled on Sept. 9, but Pearce's backers must include contact information that was left off the original version, in violation of state law.

However code compliance administrator Steve Hether said he was told by Pearce recall opponents that they do not believe the codes apply because they specifically mention primary and general elections, but not recall elections.

Parraz said if Citizens Who Oppose the Pearce Recall leaves the signs up, the pro-Pearce group may face a libel suit. Parraz is the chief target of the signs, which accuse him of opposing the rule of law, favoring open borders and favoring a boycott of Arizona that was launched after Pearce's most famous immigration bill, Senate Bill 1070, became law last year.

Parraz said all those accusations are false and defamatory. "It's a smear campaign on me," he said. Attorney Chad Snow, chairman of the recall committee, said, "It's unbecoming a Senate president, I think, to go after private citizens who just happen to disagree with him politically. We've been very careful not to go after Mr. Pearce personally.... We've stayed away from that. We disagree with his politics."

A political ally of Pearce, Mesa resident Franklin Bruce Ross, has challenged the recall campaign in court. A county judge already has ruled the election can go ahead, but Pearce's team is appealing that ruling. Both sides have asked the Arizona Supreme Court to take the case directly, rather than waiting for a ruling from the state appeals court before considering the matter.

Tom Ryan, attorney for the recall group, said he's confident Judge Hugh Hegyi's ruling will stand. "The standard of review ... is going to be, did this judge abuse his discretion?" Ryan said. "No, he didn't." Ryan said he expects the matter to be resolved in court before election officials must begin mailing ballots in late September.